MBA In A Day What You Would Learn at Top-Tier Business Schools phần 8 docx

The projects can fail from a processes standpointinitiation, planning, executing, controlling, or closing, or they canfail from a weakness in project dynamics scope, time cost manage-men

health care setting, you should not wear anything scented becausecolognes can aggravate certain medical conditions and allergies.

Importance of Backup Plans and Preplanning

Do not make the mistake of leaving an important presentation aid hind at your home or office Put the materials you will need for yourpresentation in a separate and secure location Check them carefullythe day before and the morning of your presentation to make sure thatnothing is missing or broken Bring a backup copy of your visual aids

be-in a folder or on a CD be-in case somethbe-ing happens to the origbe-inals Arethere any handouts you want to provide to your audience during or af-ter your presentation? If so, make sure that you have more thanenough copies available well in advance of the presentation day Doyou have that index card of what to be mindful of when presenting(such as looking your audience in the eye)?

In order to do a last-minute check of the parameters, arrive early.Knowing that the audio-video equipment and your laptop are workingwill put your mind at rest and add to your confidence about your pre-sentation Take a minute to look over your notes and run through yourkey words and phrases In addition, and if it is appropriate given thesize and formality of your audience, playing host before your presenta-tion can be a good way to begin developing a relationship with youraudience Greet audience members individually as they arrive, and askpeople if they are comfortable in their seats and can see the screen De-veloping a personal relationship with your audience in this way willalso help alleviate some of your stage fright

DELIVERING THE PRESENTATION

The time has finally come to take the stage There are a couple of portant steps that can be taken to engage your audience and make yourpresentation informative and interesting To overcome stage fright, re-member that for most situations the audience wants the speaker tosucceed The audience is there because they want to hear what youhave to say Once you have been introduced to the audience, take amoment to establish your presence This is not very difficult, but it

im-Communications and Presentations 201

does involve patience and a bit of confidence It is done by taking a

deep breath, looking your audience in the eye, relaxing your frame,

and, most importantly, smiling

The Introduction

Even if someone has already taken the time to introduce you, it is

help-ful to take a moment to introduce yourself This will quickly clarify a

couple of important points It lets your audience know who you are,

what you have come to speak to them about, and what credentials you

possess to speak on this subject This also shapes the audience’s

expec-tations of your presentation

The best presentations are engaging as well as informative In der to engage the audience, you need to begin developing a relation-

or-ship Get your audience’s attention by showing them that you

understand their concerns and issues, that you are aware of their

ex-pectations, and that you respect their opinions You can do this by

ask-ing an engagask-ing question, doask-ing somethask-ing unexpected, or showask-ing

them a unique visual aid This not only serves to break the ice but also

shifts some of the attention from you back to the audience One of the

most effective tools for developing a relationship with your audience is

to tell a story This is not always easy, but an engaging story that is

rel-evant to your presentation will get your audience’s attention quickly

and effectively

Sometimes, especially during a long presentation, the audience’sattention might begin to drift Don’t hesitate to take a break during

your presentation at an appropriate point A five-minute break can do

wonders for reviving your audience You might even plan for a break

during the initial stages of planning your presentation

It is important to remember that when you are developing a tionship you need to be yourself Use your emotion as well as the raw

rela-information contained in your presentation to convey your message

Having a sense of conviction about what you are saying will serve not

only to strengthen your relationship with the audience, but also to

al-leviate some of the initial stage fright you might feel

Sometimes, through no fault of your own, you will find yourself

in front of an unresponsive audience It could be due to the poor

qual-ity of previous presenters or the fact that attendance was mandatory

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Perhaps it’s just that it’s 7 A.M on a Monday morning after a three-dayweekend Regardless of the cause, no matter what you try, the audi-ence refuses to display any emotion about your presentation In thiscase it’s best to face facts and move on Focus on your material andspeak passionately and convincingly Remember that just because theaudience as a whole was cold and unresponsive, this is not necessarilytrue about the individuals that make up the audience Given anothertime or space and some one-on-one contact, you may find that mem-bers of the audience were receptive to the topic, theme, and purpose

of your presentation

Body and Voice

Having conviction in what you are saying will be conveyed not only inthe words you use, but also in the way you stand and the way youspeak In establishing your presence you took a deep breath, relaxed abit, and smiled This process is meant to prepare your body and voicefor the task ahead During the presentation your stance should be erectand focused Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and your weightshould be balanced Remember to keep your hands out of your pocketsand look your audience in the eye If you have your index card in front

of you, you won’t make the mistake of forgetting this during your sentation Avoid turning your back to your audience, don’t lean casu-ally against a podium or table, and don’t fidget with clothing orjewelry Your casual stance can come across as disinterested, unpre-pared, and disrespectful This is not the impression you want to leaveyour audience with after the presentation is finished

pre-If you are having trouble looking your audience in the eye, lookjust over the head of the person sitting in the last row In this way itwill seem to people in the audience that you are looking directly atthem Another option is to look at the center of people’s faces ratherthan at their eyes You can also select a few people around the roomyou feel comfortable making eye contact with and focus on them.Choose the option that best suits your comfort level

In addition to a straight and focused posture, your body languageshould also be positive and as natural as possible When you are trying

to share important information with family members or friends, how

do you approach them? Do you move around and use hand gestures

Communications and Presentations 203

and facial expressions? Do you sometimes smile and laugh? Use this

same approach with your audience It will convey to them that you are

confident, sincere, and respectful

If you are uncertain about your posture and body language ing your presentation, make a video recording of yourself during your

dur-rehearsals Watch the video and keep an eye out for poor posture or

body language and any tendencies that might detract from the focus of

your presentation

To be truly effective, however, an erect and confident posturecombined with a positive and natural manner must be accompanied by

an effective use of voice One of the biggest problems that people

expe-rience when giving a presentation is that they begin speaking very

quickly The material rushes by in a blur and the audience is left

squinting at the visual aids trying to figure out exactly what was said

Speaking quickly also has a tendency to raise the pitch of your voice

and wear you out quickly There are a few steps that can be taken to

guard against the tendency to speak too quickly First, take a deep

breath and relax Breathing normally will help pace your speech

Sec-ond, listen to yourself Do you seem to be rushing your sentences? Do

you feel short of breath? Is the tone of your voice rising? If so, slow

down, work on lowering your voice, and take a breath Third, if,

de-spite forewarning and practice, you still find yourself speaking too

quickly, get a trusted colleague, friend, or family member to sit in the

front row during your presentation Visually check in with that person

every couple of minutes and have him give you a subtle hand gesture if

you need to slow down

Another problem people often experience when giving a tation is hesitating and saying “um” or “er” when they have lost their

presen-train of thought A better approach is to pause, take a breath, and

refo-cus Be conscious of whether or not you have these tendencies If you

are unsure, make a recording of yourself giving your presentation

While listening to the recording, follow along in your rough script

How often do you hear yourself say “um” or “er”? Are there certain

places in your presentation where you have more trouble than others?

Be aware of these problems and work to correct them

An additional and important element to consider in regard to theuse of your body and voice during your presentation is variation This

is part of the process of conveying emotion to your audience While

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hearsing your presentation, think about ways to change your body guage or voice to convey the importance of particular material Changethe speed and tone of your voice and use inflections and emphasis.One of the most effective ways of making a point during a presentation

lan-is the use of silence After making a particularly important point orsummarizing several previous points, pause for a moment and allowthe audience to absorb and reflect on what you have said Vary gesturesand other body language to convey similar messages

Humor

The use of humor in your presentation is a great way to further build

on your relationship with the audience and lighten and vary the mood.Make sure you are confident in your use of humor and use it to sup-port points in your presentation Confident, relevant, and natural arethe qualities you want to project to your audience Avoid using humor

to belittle or make fun of people in the audience It will detract fromthe theme, topic, and purpose of your presentation As the presenter,you are the only legitimate target for humor in the room

Expect the Unexpected

As Dwight D Eisenhower once said, “In preparing for battle I have ways found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” De-spite the importance and necessity of all the planning and practicingyou have done in order to deliver a successful presentation, learn toexpect the unexpected This requires flexibility both in the way you re-late to your audience as well as in the way you deliver your presenta-tion When mistakes happen, and they will, don’t try to ignore them;this just makes them more obvious Acknowledge them, deal withthem, and move on This can be done by deflecting them or counteringthem with the use of light humor Don’t, however, be overly sensitive

al-to mistakes In many cases the mistake may be small enough that theaudience may not have even noticed it

A level of flexibility should also be present in the delivery ofyour presentation A presenter who is too polished, overly confident,

or too prepared can alienate an audience Be sensitive to how the dience is relating to you and be flexible enough in your presentation

au-Communications and Presentations 205

to lighten the mood or change the style of your delivery Leaving room

for improvisation will add an element of freshness, realism, and

sin-cerity to your presentation

Flexibility will also be important if there are any problems withyour presentation aids Instead of dwelling on any problems, try to ad-

dress them and, if you cannot solve them quickly, make a humorous

aside and talk directly to your audience Remember that the

presenta-tion is not about the visual aids; it is about you You have prepared and

you are ready

CONCLUDING THE PRESENTATION

In developing the outline for your presentation, you organized the

ma-terial you collected into themes and topics with an eye on what would

be appropriate for the beginning, middle, and end of your

presenta-tion Over the course of your delivery you have carefully developed

these themes and topics in light of the purpose of the presentation At

the end of your delivery make sure that you bring your presentation to

a close with a concise and effective conclusion The conclusion should

be succinct so that it leaves your audience with a clear message about

your main topics and themes Don’t repeat the main text; summarize it

In addition, end on a positive note with energy and confidence This

will leave your audience interested in learning more about your topics

and themes

QUESTION-AND-ANSWER PERIOD

Dealing with questions can be as intimidating as delivering the

presenta-tion itself, and some presenters might prefer to skip the process entirely

To properly conclude your presentation and respect the relationship you

have developed with your audience, you need to allow for questions

When answering questions, acknowledge the speaker and repeat the

question so that the entire audience can hear it Avoid getting into a

de-bate or argument, and if you do not know the answer to the question,

admit it Ask for the contact information of the person asking the

ques-tion and offer to get back to them with a response later

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POSTPRESENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

After a presentation, the script and visual aids often end up in a foldercasually tossed and forgotten on your desk It is time to get on withother things, and if you need to deliver the presentation again, you canalways dig up the folder and use the same materials This approach is amistake and wastes a valuable opportunity to take advantage of yourinitial assessment of the presentation Even letting a couple of dayspass before reviewing your presentation will cause you to forget valu-able points

If you were fortunate enough to get a video recording of your sentation, use it as a tool to examine your presentation for content andstyle If possible watch the video twice, focusing on a different aspecteach time It would be difficult to cover both aspects at the same time

pre-SUMMARY

Presentations and communications are critical success factors in day’s competitive organizational environment Managers find they arespending more and more time preparing for presentations, and incommunicating their ideas with colleagues, customers, investors,and other stakeholders It is essential that managers consider thesepresentation opportunities as important to advancing the organiza-tion’s purpose and in achieving its goals and objectives Properly pre-pared, managers can use presentations as an effective tool for successand opportunity

to-REFERENCES

Adubato, Steve “Put Power of Low-Tech in Presentations,” Star-Ledger

(May 25, 2003)

Bobo, John “How to Repair and Resuscitate an Audience Abused by

Boredom,” Presentations 18, Issue 1 (January 2004): 58.

Bunzel, Tom “Successful Speakers Know How Presenting and

Prepara-tion Go Hand-in-Hand,” PresentaPrepara-tions 17, Issue 10 (October

2003): 58

Communications and Presentations 207

Couzins, Martin “How to Make Effective Presentations,” Personnel

To-day (July 22, 2003): 25.

Daley, Kevin “Meeting the Challenges of Group Presenting,”

Presenta-tions 17, Issue 11 (November 2003): 66.

Executive Communications Group, “Best Business Attire,” PS: For

Business Communicators, http://ecglink.com/newsletter/dress

spk_men.shtml

Finkelstein, Ellen “A PowerPoint World without Bullets Is Possible, and

Beautiful As Well,” Presentations 18, Issue 1 (January 2004): 20.

Hill, Julie “The Attention Deficit,” Presentations 17, Issue 10 (October

S ECTION IV

SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES

Project Management

In this chapter we explore a concept and a practice that has grown

in importance as organizations have become more complex and arecontinuously evolving and implementing new ideas, products, andservices or seek to improve existing ones An organization will create aproject as a way to focus resources on an opportunity or issue and toserve as a way to effectively organize its efforts to achieve a specificgoal or objective In a small firm, practice, or business, a project may

be the installation of a new accounting software system or the duction of a new product or service In large, complex organizations,several projects may be in play at the same time, with some midlevelmanagers whose only responsibility is the management of a stream ofthese short-term assignments In the dynamic nature of today’s organi-zational environment, project management is an important conceptand tool to understand and effectively implement

intro-According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), 74 percent

of all projects fail The projects can fail from a processes standpoint(initiation, planning, executing, controlling, or closing), or they canfail from a weakness in project dynamics (scope, time cost manage-ment, quality management, human resources management, communi-cations, or risk) Project management covers a wide range of topicsand issues and is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools,and techniques to a broad range of activities to reach a predeterminedgoal or objective (See Figure 11.1.)

Chapter

ROLE OF PROJECT MANAGER

It may also be concluded that a considerable number of projects fail

from not having a skilled and experienced project manager to manage

the process This hole is quickly being filled, however, as companies

recognize that successfully managed projects increase productivity,

yield a greater return on investment, increase profits, and improve

cus-tomer service

But project management isn’t new Project management tion and planning skills have been used for centuries—even as far back

coordina-as the Roman Empire Project management hcoordina-as also almost always

dealt with the same elemental challenges: incomplete project

specifica-tions and scope definition, insufficient labor, unforeseen challenges, or

unsure funding The role and job title of the person responsible for

managing these elements, however, the project manager, was not

rec-ognized until the twentieth century

Another reason for the importance of the role of a project ager is the increasing rate of change in the workplace Project manage-

man-ment skills transcend corporations and industries; with change

happening at such rapid rates, whether in technology, business, or

con-struction, project managers are increasingly in demand

It is important, however, for all project participants to understandthe process of project management As project-based change increases,

every project participant from part-time team member to executive

SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES

sponsor will be more effective in their role if they understand theprocess of project management.

PROJECT SCOPE AND

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

Let’s begin with a discussion of the vocabulary and processes that compass project management The project scope involves subdividingthe major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable compo-nents Often this includes the work breakdown structure (WBS) Theproject scope is a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elementsthat define the total scope of the project The WBS is almost like a gi-ant task list of what needs to get done to successfully complete theproject It is often used to help confirm a common understanding ofwhat the project scope is It has the ability to transform one large,unique, and sometimes mystifying job into many small, more man-ageable tasks

en-The WBS helps to define deliverables and figure out the tasksthat need to get done The WBS is also a useful tool to help monitorthe progress, verify the schedule estimates, and build project teamsnecessary to complete the project It lists the tasks that need to getdone in a prioritized, hierarchical structure in relation to what needs

to get done in the overall project Each task should be specific enough

to be able to put a person’s name next to it who will be able to executethe given activity

Some of the items on the list will be open-ended tasks ended tasks include activities that we are familiar with doing, but don’thave a specific deliverable or hard product being produced Examples

Open-of open-ended activities that might appear in a WBS are things such as

“research,” “perform analysis,” or “interview.” Another type of taskmight be on the list to perform but need more clarification “Database”might be listed, but what does that really mean? Does it mean sort thedatabase? Clean the database? Load the database? Test the database?You can see that just putting the word “database” on the list could refer

to numerous activities; therefore, a greater level of detail about the taskneeds to be achieved

The WBS should include a plan for the project and output quality

Be sure to take the time necessary to get the quality high enough to

meet expectations It is cheaper to design and produce a product

cor-rectly the first time than it is to go in after development is in process

and fix it Steve McConnell, in his book Rapid Development, pointed

out that if a defect caused by incorrect requirements is fixed in the

construction or maintenance phase, it can cost 50 to 200 times as

much to fix as it would have in the requirements phase Each hour

spent on quality assurance activities such as design review saves 3 to

10 hours on downstream costs

Product scope and project scope have different qualities Theproduct scope can remain constant throughout the process of the proj-

ect, while the project scope can change and evolve and expand The

project may also focus on the creation and delivery of a service If

there is no detailed product description, then creating one should be

the sole deliverable for a project Defining what the project

con-straints are (costs, schedule, resources, material, etc.) won’t have any

meaning unless the product specification is complete This makes

sense because if the project team doesn’t have a clear idea of the

prod-uct specification, they don’t know what they’re building or what

they’re working toward

Given that a product scope is understood, then, it is important todefine what the deliverables are What is being produced? Is it a prod-

uct? A service? A new design? Fixing an old problem? It is critical that

the team know what they are working toward and it helps to create

boundaries and focus the team on the outcome

Deliverables can be either end deliverables or intermediate erables The end deliverable is what the final outcome of the project is

deliv-expected to be The intermediate deliverables are the small pieces of

the puzzle that help the team get there An intermediate deliverable,

for example, could be the creation and description of a target market,

when the end deliverable is the mass media advertising campaign for a

product or service

Setting project objectives is critical They serve as quantifiablecriteria that must be met in order for the project to be deemed success-

ful Project objectives should be specific and measurable so that they

can provide the basis for agreement on the project Measurability

pro-vides supporting detail that may be necessary to make a strong case for

a particular outcome

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214

PROJECT SCOPE MANAGEMENT PLAN

When the product scope is understood, a project scope managementplan needs to be created This plan describes how the project scopewill be managed and, therefore, any changes in scope will be integratedinto the project It also serves as an assessment of the anticipated sta-bility of the project scope In other words, it documents the character-istics of the product or service that the project was undertaken tocreate As shown in Figure 11.2, the project scope management planbegins at initiation of the project and moves through scope planning,scope definition, scope verification, and scope change control (shouldthis be needed)

The initiation phase includes beginning to develop the scopestatement The scope statement serves to put some boundaries on theproject and keeps the scope from increasing as you delve into the meat

of the project, which is a common phenomenon The scope statementshould describe the major activities of the project so clearly that it can

be used to assess if extra work is necessary as the project process getsgoing More simply, it serves to detail exactly what has been agreed tofrom the beginning It is understood that changes in the project scoperequire changes in the cost, schedule, and resource projections as theseassumptions are made during the project planning and scope writing.Additionally, the scope statement can be used to help define where theproject’s placement is in a larger picture This is the ideal place to clar-ify the relationship of this project to other projects in the total productdevelopment effort

Initiation

Scope Planning

Scope Definition

Scope Verification

Scope Change Control

FIGURE 11.2 Project Stages

Also considered in the initiation phase is the overall strategic plan

of the organization All projects should be supportive of the

perform-ing organization’s goals, and havperform-ing a strategic plan helps to make this

possible The project selection criteria are also very important to clarify

in this phase This is a good time to look at historical information and

look to the results of previous project selection and performance

The elements included in the initiation phase may include ing a project charter The project charter is the product description and

creat-business needs the project addresses Identifying and assigning the

pro-ject manager should also be one of the results of the initial phase It is

important as well during this phase to identify constraints that will

limit the project team’s options and also identify the assumptions The

assumptions can include factors that will be considered true, real, or

certain during the planning process and that will be more rigorously

examined in the risk analysis phase of project planning

The scope planning phase includes the scope statement (scopejustification, project product description, project deliverables, project

objectives, and supporting detail)

When the major project deliverables are subdivided into small,more manageable components, the phase is called scope definition The

scope definition phase is also where you’ll see the creation of the WBS

The scope verification portion of the system is what may be used

to determine if the job is complete The process can actually proceed as

soon as a deliverable is complete and can be measured, examined, and

tested Once verification is attained, you can move on to the next

com-ponent of the project

After formal acceptance of the scope (scope verification), scopechange control takes place It is likely that changes will occur after a

project is under way This phase influences factors that create scope

changes to ensure that the changes being made are beneficial

A change control system will include:

✔ Recognizing that a change is needed

✔ Reviewing all requested changes

✔ Ensuring that any change is beneficial

✔ Evaluating the benefits of the requested change

✔ Identifying alternatives that would achieve the same result

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216